Hearing aid makers Denmark's Widex and Singapore's Sivantos will merge to form a company with an enterprise value of more than $8 billion.

The combined entity will be owned by Swedish private equity firm EQT and the families which currently own Widex will be the largest individual shareholder.

The firms said the aim is to become a top player globally alongside Switzerland’s Sonova, Denmark’s William Demant and GN Store Nord.

In fiscal year 16/17, Sivantos generated revenue of more than $1.03 billion on pro-forma basis, while Widex posted net turnover of more than $636 million.